Bonaparte-1
Disclaimer: This is a non canonal fleshing out in the Steve Jackson Forums of an official GURPS world The first timeline discovered with a Napoleonic victory turned not on him, but the great sea legend, Nelson. The admiral’s death in an attack on Boulogne in 1801 left the British Navy without his genius, and the Battle of Trafalgar four years later, instead of being his greatest victory, was a loss to the Franco-Spanish alliance under Napoleon, who by the next year was dictating peace from the Tower of London. Imperial Glory In The Treaty of The Tower, France stripped the United Kingdom of its colonies, from Canada and the Caribbean to India and Australia. Without British opposition, Napoleon cowed Prussia and Austria, came to an accord with Russia, and littered Europe with new monarchs in his generals & relatives. Then Napoleon looked to the Americas. He ruled Canada & the Caribbean, and united the French & Spanish crowns under his son, including Portugal (whose monarchy fled to Brazil). The United States’ possession of Louisiana rankled the general, who wished to reclaim the land he had sold. In The War of 1812, the U.S. was attacked from all sides. However, many in French America hated Paris, from English-speakers in Toronto to Spanish-speakers in Mexico to slaves in the Caribbean. Andrew Jackson stopped the southern advance at The Battle of New Orleans, and the Ontario Rebellion threw back the French to the north. The Peace of Port-Au-Prince restored the status quo, save for the new Republic of Ontario (that soon joined the U.S.). Stymied in the New World, Napoleon turned back to the Old. He reconquered Egypt en route to India, and by his 1823 death, French forts stretched to the East Indies. But his son was a diffident ruler that let his deputies, usually Napoleon’s generals & their children, run their own fiefdoms. As the French Empire spun off in a hundred directions, America and Russia grew opposed to it, with coherent industrialization and militarization. They sponsored anti-French activity throughout that empire, which came to a head under Napoleon III. The large taxes for his pet project, the Suez Canal, were resented by his people - and his court, used to to freedom under his father. Intrigues, over-taxation, and anti-French resistance boiled over into The Great Rebellion (1848-50), where subjects from Mexico to Munich to Milan to Manilla overthrew imperial rule. Almost a half-century later, the world is still adjusting. The United States took Florida, Oregon, and finally Mexico by 1853. Russia pushed west to Konisberg, south towards Afghanistan, and east into Manchuria & Alaska, with influence extended to the Rhine. Meanwhile, Washington & Rio dominated the new Latin American republics. Other ex-colonies established themselves, from freed slave Hispanola & Jamaica to Boer Republic & United Ceylon, the former Dutch possessions taking a cue from the old United Provinces of the Netherlands. While the old Asian colonies are anti-European and modernizing, America and Russia are in the remains of Manchu China (wrecked by its own mid-century rebellion). The two great powers quarrel from the Free City of Macao to the court in Edo, ignoring the native industrialization in India and elsewhere. Aggressive development around the world has pushed it rapidly into TL6 - and nearer to the corresponding world war… Outworld Operations Discovered before contact with Centrum, Homeline governments have long been active on Bonaparte-1, with the U.S. and Russia taking opposite sides (and China angry). Infinity has tried to forge a single parachronic policy since the start of the Dimensional War, to no avail. Centrum backs the United States, including trying to end slavery. Infinity and Homeline U.S. attempt to counter Centran influence despite its laudable efforts, but Homeline Moscow insists Czarist Russia is a better bet (despite its own serfs). Meanwhile, Homeline Paris can’t unite the factions in the post-imperial Seventh Republic, while MI-7 is building up the new mercantile U.K. Homeline India supports every little industrializing domain on the sub-continent, while Sri Lanka (in one of its few parachronic activities) proudly backs United Ceylon. Parachronic tourism was once big in this early found world, but has since moved on. What remains is to Czarist Russia, which towers over post-French Europe. This makes it an easy cover for Homeline Russian agents, who seem to interfere in Infinity oversight whenever possible. References * GURPS Infinite Worlds pg 114. Category:Infinite Worlds Category:Reality Classification Category:Quantum 6 Category:No Mana